How to Sync with the Beats?

[Bolt_Head]

I’m a newb at AMV making. I’m currently trying to get my clips to line up with the beats of the music but I’m having difficulty (let me explain). I’m using Adobe Premiere and I look at the pictorial chart of the audio (whatever its called). It helps a lot but later in the song it is a lot more ‘buzy’ and I can’t just line video up with the spikes. (yes I’m zoomed in)

I know there is always the trial and error but even visually its hard to tell. What I have done was first attempt to pinpoint the beats I want to highlight in my video. I did this by adding white flashes, then when previewing I look to see if the flashes are timed correctly. Ideally I would then layout the video using the white flashes as guidelines and remove them when I’m done.

My song has several different beats going at the same time and its hard to tell in a split second if it is cued to the correct one. There lots of videos that have something for every beat, whistle and pop. An example would be Damaged Rei by VicBond007.

I suppose my main question is… Is there a good way to pinpoint the precise location of all the different beats in a song? I looked briefly into finding sheet music for the song and found some guitar tabs. However I’m extremely illiterate when it comes to that, I can’t read notes and don’t even know how to figure out how fast the rate or whatever it is called is. Also what I’ve seen doesn’t look detailed enough like it’s just what you would play on the guitar I guess. I don’t want to spend tons of time learning to read guitar tabs on my own and find out that it won’t help at all.

Thanks for your help, sorry for rambling.

[Scintilla]

There lots of videos that have something for every beat, whistle and pop. An example would be Damaged Rei by VicBond007.

It's by A2000A Studio, not VicBond007.

There's also going through the timeline one frame at a time, or playing the audio starting from different frames to pinpoint where the beat falls, or playing the audio and trying to stop it on the beat, or...

[Bolt_Head]

It's by A2000A Studio, not VicBond007.

My apologies to Koopiskeva

I guess for me its hard to distinquish between differant sounds unless I hear like several seconds before and after. Thanks i'll try those methods.

[downwithpants]

just plop what ever you're trying to synch to the music on the timeline. then view and listen to the video. if the video element intended to be synched is later than the audio element, drag the video earlier in the timeline. if it's earlier, drag it later.

[BasharOfTheAges]

Scrub through the audio waveform frame by frame and mark the beats. It takes a while, but it works for me.

[imuneekru]

Scrub through the audio waveform frame by frame and mark the beats. It takes a while, but it works for me.

I understand your difficulty in trying to mark beats on a fuzzy waveform! One of my most difficult projects to sync was an Enya song, which had no drums, not even audible beats--nothing. Yet even such a song has a distinct sense of timing.

My method is, before there's even any video in the timeline, listen through the song until you can sorta "feel" the unadvertised rhythm. Once you think you can pick up the beat aurally, go through it again, marking the beats with whatever your software gives you. Make sure if there's a shortcut key (mine's Command+B for iMovie), use it. It'll save you loads of time.

It can get really hard when you're zoomed all the way in on a waveform (and you need to be) to mentally pick up on the beats. I usually skip back two or three measures each time I mark a beat, just so I can feel three or four beats and know when the next one is coming. When you pass it, go over it again, bookmark where you think it should be, and move on to the next one. You should always go back later and see if your guesstimate looks right when they're all lined up. Musical timing should be evenly spaced, so if one looks too close to the next, try listening for it again.

It's an art. It comes with practice.

[Ainaelle]

An audio editor with spectral view might help, too.